On Australia Day, 1966, three children disappear from Glenelg Beach, South Australia. Over the years many have come forth with theories, even a renowned psychic from the Netherlands helped investigate, but no evidence has ever surfaced to bring a conclusion to this near fifty year old mystery.

Three Young Children Disappear...

The Beaumont Children.

Three young children disappeared on Australia Day, January 26, 1966, from Glenelg Beach, South Australia and forever changed society in our country. For nearly half a century, the Australian people and media have speculated and wondered about what happened to the Beaumont children. Were 9 year old Jane, 7 year old Arnna and 4 year old Grant murdered? The case remains open to this day as possibly our countries most infamous cold case and widely known disappearance. The siblings lived in the Adelaide suburb of Somerton Park. Not far from their home is Glenelg, another suburb that the children often visited, as they liked the beach situated there. It would only take a five minute bus trip to get there and the eldest sibling Jane was considered responsible enough to look after the two younger children.

Glenelg, South Australia, about 1970.

Leaving home at 10am on that hot summer day, they were expected home by noon. When they didn't return home by 3pm, the police were notified and thus began one of the largest and longest police investigations in Australian history. The children were seen, according to several witnesses, on the day with a man in his 30's, with blonde hair and of a tall slim build. They were seen playing and relaxing along the beach, with a local shopkeeper stating that Jane had bought pastries and a meat pie at around 12:30pm. The last confirmed sighting was from a postman, who knew the children well, who told police that around 3pm he stopped to briefly talk to them along Jetty Road, away from the beach and in the direction of home. They seemed cheerful. He was the last person to ever see the children.

Theories, Suspects and Dead Ends

Will we ever know what happened?

Many have come forth with theories, stating that perhaps the children had been kidnapped by a religious cult and taken interstate or even overseas. The case attracted attention from abroad, with a renowned psychic from the Netherlands, Gerard Croiset, being brought here to help investigate, causing a frenzy in the press. Croiset made numerous claims while here, all which proved fruitless. Sightings of the children persisted up until the year after the disappearances, and police had to contend with letters being sent from Jane and her abductor some time afterwards. The letters were identified years later through new forensic technology to be fake and the work of a then teenage boy playing a cruel joke.

Sketch of the suspect.

Over the years many suspects have emerged as a potential abductor or possible killer. One in particular being Bevan Spencer von Einem, a former accountant who was found guilty of the kidnapping, torture and murder of 15 year old Richard Kelvin in 1984. He is also suspected of many other lesser-known disappearances. Many see Von Einem as the likely perpetrator, however no evidence has to this day been linked. Many other known child killers or paedophiles have been questioned or suspected. Von Einem matches police sketches of the man seen with the children and it is reported that a man fitting the same description as Von Einem and the police sketches appears in archive footage taken from Channel 7 helping searchers look for the children, however the man in the footage has never been fully identified. Throughout the years, Jim and Nancy Beaumont, the children's parents, held hope they would see their children again, and actively participated in exploring with investigators every possible lead or outcome, even visiting possible burial sites. They have separated and are said to finally accept that their children have died and have moved from their former address and live hidden from public scrutiny. They have had to endure years of possible what-if scenarios when bodies are found. Will answers ever be found? Will Bevan Spencer Von Einem, if he was involved, ever confess to possibly murdering these 3 kids?Will he take anything to the grave? Are the children possibly still alive? Will Mr and Mrs Beaumont,as well as the fascinated and horrified Australian public,ever get closure on this mystery?

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